People Change
by AllytheVamp
Summary: Oz comes back to Sunnydale...a changed man in need of rescuing (I suck at these)


_**People Change**_

__

**Disclaimer: I don't own Willow and Oz or any of the other characters mentioned. They belong to Joss.**

**Dedicated: To anyone who has ever had their heart broken...it's the worst pain in the world...**

**Authors Notes: I desperatly need to write something for Willlow and Oz. I have been neglecting them in my writing and focusing mainly on Cordelia. I hope that this makes you feel all warm and fuzzy, or cry, or scream... I hope this drums up some kind of emotion in you.**

I walked down the street trying to find some peace of mind. I stared at the streelights with a faint hope that they would somehow hold the answer to all my troubles...stop the pounding in my head. No such luck. I think I was down about three blocks from where I was going when I collapsed.

When I opened my eyes, I saw this girl walking down the street on the other side. She stopped and stared at me her eyes looking straight into mine. I looked away, embarressed that someone as beautiful as her was seeing me like this, beaten, homeless, pathetic. I was still only 21 and I was homeless. 

My band had failed, my former friends dumped me and I had left this place years ago to protect someone from myself. It was this girl, I couldn't quite recall her name...but she was amazing. She was sweet and cute and everything in the world I could have ever wanted for myself. And the great thing was that she loved me back. I came back to this place to find her...but now I was so drunk I could barely remember my own name...and the police wouldn't stop looking for me...

This girl across the street suddenly ran towards me. I tried to struggle to my feet, but I couldn't quite make it and collapsed again. My bag flew off my shoulder and I clumsily tugged it back on. The girl reached out and offered me an arm. I leaned onto her, my world spinning with confusion. Why would someone like her help someone like me?

"Why-?" I coughed on the words. I could barely walk as I stared at the obstinate expression on her face. 

"I know." was all she said to me. I puzzled over these words as she half dragged me to an apartment building. We manged somehow to get up the stairs and she made me sit down.

I watched her as she bustled in and out of the room I was in. I lay on her soft couch, gazing at the ceiling and again wondering why I somehow seemed to deserve this kind of treatment after everything I had done. I had broken the red-haired girl's heart, I was a drunk, I stole from people to live and I never trusted anyone. Ever. Why in the world would I deserve this kind treatment?

When she was done she came in and sat across from me, setting a mug of coffee on the table. I smiled in thanx and took a sip. It was wonderfully bittersweet.

"You...you make good coffee." I slurred. The room tipped a little and I had to duck my head to keep from dropping the cup. She gently took it from me and set it down. 

"Thank you," she answered. Then her eyes grew serious. "What's your name?"

I struggled through my drunken haze to remember. "I....uh....Daniel." I blurted out. "That's the name my folks gave me." I grinned humorlessly. She didn't grin back.

"Daniel..." she let the name out softly. Then her eyes widened as if she was realizing something. She reached over and did something I never expected. 

She hugged me. Not just a quick akward relatives hug, but a tight full of emotion kind of hug. The kind of hug I didn't know I'd missed. I didn't do anything to stop it, or do anything to protest. I just limply held her against me, wondering for the millionth time what was up with her. When she pulled back there were tears in her eyes.

"Daniel, do you know what you're wanted for? What's happened to you?" Her eyes were shiny with her tears and it hit me.

It was her. My lady. THe one whose heart I had broken all those years ago.

I gasped with the realization, my mind sobering and heart pounding against my chest. "Willow!"

Willow nodded slowly. "I diverted them, but the spell will only last until morning. You'll be safe here."

I leaned back against the couch. "Will..." I breathed out her name, elated that I could see her in front of me again, and not have her run away.

"You left me." she said quietly.

"I know."

"And you abandoned everything that we had."

"Yeah..."

"You're drunk."

"I know."

"What happened to you?"

"Lots of crap."

"Tell me."

"Everything?"

"I don't care if you made love to everyone on the planet or you became a psyco killer, I just want to know where the man I love has been all this time!"

I bit my lip. She still loved me? Me? I was so lucky. It had been the worst night of my life but it was quickly turning into the best.

I told her everything. Every detail that I could remember. She listened quietly. When I was done she got up and paced slowly back and forth.

"Why did you come back?" her eyes pleaded with me. 

I was speechless. Why had I come back? I racked my brain for an answer that didn't involve her, but the truth was the only reason I had thought of my hometown was because I was desperate to find her.

" I came back for you." I mumbled. 

Willow was clearly shocked at this. "What? You thought you'd just breeze through town and then get me on your way out?"

"NO!" I snapped getting impatient. "You don't understand!"

"You're right. I don't understand why you didn't call me at all. Why didn't you write? Why did you wait eight years to tell me you missed me?" Willow sat back down and suddenly seemed very tired. "Maybe you should explain."

Silently, I got up, and went over to my bag. The swaying had stopped and I think I was sobering up quite a bit, cause I could actually walk. I shuffled around in it for awhile. Willow watched me intently, curious as to what I was doing. Finally I found what I had been looking for.

A stack of letters an inch thick. 

I handed them to Willow calmy. "I wrote you. Alot. But whenever I tried to send them, I kept thinking about..." I shrugged and trailed off, sitting down again. "All the things I did. I didn't think you wanted to hear from me. So don't you dare say I didn't write."

She stared at the letters in her hand and shook her head. "I missed you."

"Yeah? You could have made an effort to tell me!" I countered. "You could have tried to look me up, too. Why are you acting like everything is my fault Will?"

Willow threw the letters down. "You left me!" she shouted. "I didn't ask for you to leave! We could have worked through the Veruca thing-"

"No!" I shouted back. "There's nothing I could have said to make you trust me again!"

"So then you just leave?!"

"What the hell was I supposed to do?"

Willow's eyes were tear-filled as we raised our voices till we were practically screaming. 

"WHY DIDN'T YOU JUST STAY WITH ME?"

"WHY DIDN'T YOU ASK ME TO?"

"I DID!"

"NO YOU DIDN'T! THERE WAS NO WAY TO WORK THROUGH THAT!"

"I LOVED YOU, OF COURSE THERE WAS A WAY!"

"YEAH?? I LEFT BECAUSE I LOVED YOU TOO! I COULD HURT YOU!"

That stopped her. She stood there facing me. My body was tense and I was panting for breath. I locked eyes with her. Those deep eyes...

Willow put her hand over her face. "I know." she whispered. "It made so much sense. But you hurt me so much more by leaving...I just never imagined how much losing you would hurt. I really wished I had done something. I didn't know what to say. I was afraid if I found you I would lose you all over again. Or that you didn't want me anymore. I'm so sick of arguing."

I nodded, a lump in my throat and a burning in my chest.

We sat down again. 

"People change Will." I replied. "They get better, they get worse, and sometimes they learn. I learned alot since I left here. Look at me, Will. I'm drunk, homeless and pathetic. I'm pretty sure I can't even play guitar anymore. I know I have nothing to offer, like I did before. I at least wanted to tell you..." I trailed off, getting lost in those eyes again. "I used to be someone you loved, now I'm just Daniel."

She reached out and stroked my cheek. A sudden flow of warmth overwhelmed me.

"You're Oz." she said simply. "You'll never be anyone else to me."

I touched her hand and kissed her soft fingertips. She gazed at me through blinded eyes. She still saw me as her Oz. The one in highschool. She was pretty much the only one on Earth who still saw something good in me. We drifted closer, now standing. I was still holding her hand.

"Will, I don't want to ruin your life." I choked. I didn't think, if she let me hold her, that I'd ever be able to let go.

"Shut up." she whispered. "Just shut up. If you walk out that door it will be ruined."

Then I kissed her hungrily my mouth possessing hers. We crushed against eachother and held tight as our emotions took control. I felt as if ever ounce of me was flowing into her with that one kiss. We kissed roughly till we were unable to breathe and had to stop. Gasping we looked at eachother...

How could we have both changed so much and still love eachother? 

Well love is a powerful thing. That's what I learned that night. 

People change so rapidly...

When Willow rescued me, and I changed back.

Gradulally, I was Oz again.

FIN

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